A British sommelier has smashed the world record for the number of wine glasses held in one hand, handling 51 to surpass the previous mark of 39.
Philip Osenton, a 43-year-old wine consultant based in Beijing, began handling dozens of glasses early in his career working at major London hotels the Ritz and Savoy, which he says laid the groundwork for the feat.
'The carrying of glasses is a sommelier thing. When I was head sommelier at the Ritz hotel, I've had a 140-cover restaurant to set up in the morning between breakfast and lunch, so basically with two glasses per setting I had 280 glasses to put out with a very short amount of time,' Osenton said on Saturday.
'You have a lot of pressure to get the room ready.'
In his first attempt Osenton managed 45 glasses in one go but made it to 51 on a second try, stacking them on their side on top of each other in his left hand.
The previous record of 39 glasses was reportedly made in 2007 by a Filipino man in a Barcelona restaurant.
